Naruto Remnants of the Past
by Zaion Indulias
Summary: Two years before the Kyuubi attack a secret society of relic hunters was disbanded. But one managed to leave behind a record for his son, along with a gift beyond imagining. Now his son has grown, and must unravel the mystery surrounding his birth.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series that may be represented herein. I do however control any and all OCs who shall make an appearance, and I am responsible for the horrible twisting of powers and events to make this story work. That is all.

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**Naruto: Remnants of the Past**

Arc 1: The Society of Raiders

"Let the Dragon Fly,

On the Winds of Time,

For When the Four Return to One,

The World Shall be Reborn,

And all Shall Remember His Name,

Uzu…"

-Partial Inscription found in the Enkaran Sun Citadel off the coast of Wind Country

Prologue: Relic

In the middle of a dark, blizzard wracked night a pair of white-coated figures struggled against the wind on a distant mountainside. Working their way through the heavy snow and blinding winds they trudged forward, both heavily clothed figures making for a nearby cliff face, barely distinguishable from the storm around them.

When they finally reached the cliff face it was clear why they had been heading for this particular cliff face. At first glance the entire surface was a sheer face of ice, but upon closer inspection a large structure carved directly into the rock of the cliff itself could be seen embedded in the ice. And at the very base of the cliff where the two figures now huddled a small alcove glowed faintly, lit by glowing orbs embedded in the ice. One of the figures, clearly a man from his voice and muffled curses, struggled to remove his thick gloves before pulling a small golden star from his coat and pressing it tentatively against a similarly shaped mark in the ice.

At first nothing happened.

"See!" The other figure, identifiably a woman by her voice, hissed at the first figure. "It's the wrong one, like I told you. But no, you just had to come and try it! And now look where we are! Stuck hundreds of miles from civilization in a bloody blizzard with no food, no water, and no goddamn supplies. We're going to freeze to death here and it's all your bloody fault!"

The first figure just sighed and twisted the star on a whim. To his surprise something in the ice turned with it and clicked into place.

"What was that?" The woman asked, stopping her tirade.

"Honey." The young man said softly. "I think we found it."

With a rumbling sound a vertical crack appeared in the ice before them. For a brief moment the couple feared they had activated some sort of boobytrap before the ice slid aside cleanly, leaving clear an opening into a dark tunnel. As the pair took a hesitant step forward glow orbs along each wall lit up, progressing down the still fairly dark tunnel as if indicating they should follow.

Swallowing the couple stepped in, too tense to even worry over the ice sealing shut behind them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took nearly ten minutes of walking down the long, straight, dimly lit tunnel before they had any sign they were making any progress. Suddenly the room opened up into a large, the ceiling of which disappeared in the darkness above. The couple stared around in awe as they mechanically continued walking towards a large pedestal in the center of the room. At four corners of the room stood massive statues, rising high into the darkness. The details were hard to make out, but what was clear was that each statue was bound to a different element. The symbols carved into the stone made that abundantly clear.

Water, Wind, Earth, Fire. While it was commonly believed that Lightning itself was a separate element, and that things like Ice were mixed elements, the truth was far different. People had lost the ancient art of manipulating flows of power over a thousand years before, when the Great War purged the genes necessary from the population. Only long study and careful training had led to finding a secondary gene that allowed some limited manipulation, albeit using internal energy as the source rather than the external energy of the True Source.

Staring in awe the couple stepped forward onto the pedestal and looked down reverently at the object sitting upon it.

As ancient relics go it was fairly nondescript. An ivory rod two-inches thick and a foot in length, inscribed with winding silvery markings reminiscent of seals, though far more complex than any the couple had ever seen.

"My god…" The woman whispered. "Honey, is this what I think it is?"

The man swallowed and nodded his head. Sharing a meaningful look, blue eyes gazing into green, the couple nodded their heads and grasped the rod. For a moment there was silence.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!" "!!!!"

The pair screamed in pain as sparks and swirling energy began to fly around them. Neither one released the rod though. If the writings they had studied were correct then to interrupt the process would guarantee their deaths. Letting it continue only carried the chance of it.

A minute later, though it had felt like years for the couple, the energies vanished back into the rod and they dropped boneless to the ground, still holding the rod. Looking with exhausted and pained smiles at each other the man finally spoke.

"Well Kushina, it looks like we finally found it. A Rod of Ages."

Kushina smiled and rolled onto her back, one hand drifting to hover over her enlarged stomach.

"And just in time too. Even a day later and the transformation would not have taken hold on the child."

She looked back at her husband with love in her eyes. Minato gazed back with just as much emotion in his before leaning forward to give her a kiss.

High above their heads, in a chamber buried in the rock and ice above the ancient temple, a small orb began to glow a brilliant gold color, and within it images began to swirl, showing a demon fox attacking a village, a blond child trying to master the powers of the elements, and a gold-haired girl staring forlornly at the stars.

**Six Months Later…**

"Minato, please, you must let me be the one to do this. I am old and have lived a long life, but you are still young and vibrant. Our people need you. Your son needs you!" Sarutobi pleaded as Minato geared up for battle, his son laying quietly on a nearby pedestal covered in specially inscribed seals.

"I'm sorry, Saru-sensei." Minato said as he stood and straightened his white battlecloak. "But I have no choice. Saru-sensei…there is a scroll on my desk. It is for your eyes only. It will explain everything. All those secret missions my father and I were always going on. Why Kushina and I disappeared for over a year. Everything. Just know this. That monstrosity out there did not come here by choice. It was sent. It was sent to eliminate me and Kushina."

Minato barked a hollow sounding laugh.

"Heh, just think on that. Kyuubi, the most destructive demon we know of, is being used to simply tie up a few loose ends. And in the end Kushina died in childbirth and I'm going to sacrifice myself to stop the beast."

Minato shook his head.

"No, it must be me, Saru-sensei. If I don't die, he will only try again. After all, he can't very well move his plans forward if any of the Society remain alive."

Sarutobi looked at Minato in confusion.

"Minato, what are you talking about? Who is Him and what is this Society?"

Minato shot a sad gaze and a half smile back at the old man over his shoulder.

"The Society is explained in the scroll, old man. Everything Kushina and I knew about it. As for him…"

Minato returned to facing out the window at the approaching form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"…pray you never learn the answer to that, old man. It would break your heart."

With a flash of yellow light Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha and last survivor of the Society of Raiders, vanished. Sarutobi never saw his successor alive again.

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**Fourteen Years Later…**

Silently four figures raced through the trees towards Konoha. The four continuously shifted position, preventing any potential attackers from getting a bead on one of them or predicting their position. Each wore a concealing black cloak marked with faint silvery markings, like constellations, along with similar outfits and gear. Each wore a pair of matte black boots with reinforced toes and heels, formfitting black pants with silver tracer lines along the sides, black mesh shirts underneath matt black body armor, and long forearm gloves with matte black hand and arm guards. To top it off they were each wearing a mask that enclosed their entire heads and one of the four had a long blond braid hanging out the back. On their exposed shoulders were a pair of tattoos. An odd spiral marking on one shoulder (left shoulder for three of the figures, right for the fourth which was obviously a woman) and a symbol of a ring with constellations surrounding it and a single enlarged one in the center. Each one was unique.

As they approached the wall of Konoha one of the figures, his mask highlighted by a pair of stylized leaves inscribed in green on either side and with a green 'visor' hiding his eyes, raised his right hand and made a few quick hand signals. Instantly the quartet changed direction, paralleling the wall until they came into the open near the main gates. Silently the quartet landed and began to walk calmly towards the gates, silently moving into a diamond formation to back up their leader. The one with the blond ponytail took the rear position and was looking around continuously as if expecting an attack at any moment. The figure's visor was a deep red tinged with gold and his entire black helmet was accented by a series of spiraling and sharp gold lines that gave it a very intimidating look.

"Halt! Identify yourselves!" One of the chunin on gate duty called out.

Each of the four figures slid a hand slowly into a belt pouch and removed an object to show the guards. As soon as they saw it their eyes widened and they stepped aside.

"We're sorry, ANBU-sama, we should have recognized you. Go right on in. Hokage-sama has been expecting your return."

Silently the quartet of ANBU passed, slipping the objects back into their belt pouches. As they did so one of the guards shot one last glance at one of the objects. He had only seen one once before, and that briefly when the Hokage explained what they represented.

The object the blond figure had been pocketing was a hitai-ate composed entirely of pure sapphire blue crystal with ruby embedding for the Konoha symbol. The entire thing was set in a casing of gold and sat on a red-silk piece of cloth.

It was not an ordinary hitai-ate by any count, not even for an ANBU. This hitai-ate marked the quartet as Raiders, Konoha's Elite special tactics ANBU squadron, and four of Konoha's most powerful shinobi.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

As soon as the figures reached the massive tower in the center of the village they made directly for the Hokage's office. When they reached it the leader knocked respectively and waited. A minute later a voice called out for them to enter and he pushed the doors open, striding in and standing at attention before the massive desk carved created by the Shodai himself. The blond followed him while the other two, the woman with green and purple snakes inscribed on her helmet and a man with red stylized flames marking his, took up a guard position by the doors, close enough to hear the conversation but still able to keep an eye for potential threats from outside the chamber.

"Ah, Genseirin. Perfect timing. I was afraid your team wasn't going to return in time for an important decision I must make." Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, chuckled as he set his pipe down on his desk. "But I am getting ahead of myself. First, tell me, was the mission a success?"

Rather than speak the lead ANBU merely raised one hand. Behind him the blond stepped forward and raised a hand to his mask. Fingering secret latches and activating them with a carefully calibrated burst of chakra the figure swung the mask open and removing it from his head. As the rest of his hair fell free and he opened his eyes to regard his Hokage Sarutobi could not help but let out a gasp.

"So the legends were true…"

_To be continued…_

AN: So, again, another little plot bunny I at least had to get down on paper because the writing muse hit. This one isn't planned out nearly as thoroughly as some of the others, but that leaves me more fun to have with it. The core architecture is complete though, down to just what the Rod of Ages did to Naruto, and just who the "HIM" mentioned by Minato was. Here is a hint. It's not who everyone will be assuming it is.

Please read and review people. It provides feedback that people are reading and enjoying my work and helps encourage my muse.

-ZI


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